Embrace Eternity
by james525
Summary: The Collector base had been neutralised. Mission complete. Now Morinth is free to pursue that which she desires most - Shepard. But when things go catastrophically wrong someone who has spent 400 years surviving on her wits must see how good she really is. A short story looking at one possible ending beyond mass effect 2, and one specific "Critical Mission Failure".


_Shit._ Morinth had only started using human curses about twenty years ago, but she had taken to them, and they seemed particularly appropriate now. She looked down at the crumpled, half-naked woman at her feet. Less than a minute ago Shepard had been a vision to behold, in the throws of rapture, as the meld between them had taken hold. Now the beauty was gone, her limbs folded in awkward directions, her face contorted in agony that gave lie to Morinth's earlier statement about the ecstasy her partners experienced as they died.

_By the Goddess._ How had this happened? Looking back it was obvious. She had wanted Shepard since the moment she set eyes on the woman in that bar on Omega, wanted her in a way she hadn't experienced in decades. She had known something was going on as they had flirted. Shepard's conversation had been too perfect, too targeted, but her spirit was undeniable and irresistible and Morinth had justified away her concerns as paranoia invoked by all those centuries on the run. She had continued to do so once they had gone back to her apartment, pretending Shepard's suspicious behaviour was just a quirk of a species in whose company she had little experience. The choice had seemed justified as the human had seemed to fall under her thrall easily enough, her incredible strength of will seeming to crumble as the Asari made the commander hers. Then that bitch of a mother had burst in, Shepard had somehow seemed to regain control and Morinth had found herself outnumbered and doomed.

She should have had more faith in her abilities. Shepard may have believed herself free from the Asari's control but she turned on the Justicar, an incorruptible force for good and her own team-mate, with a few simple, suggestive sentences. Morinth allowed herself half a second's smile as she remembered the wet cracking noise Samara's head had made as her fist had crushed it into the apartment floor. That kill had been glorious. As she had turned to Shepard she had needed one quick look at the woman to know two things; she would always want her, and she would always have some level of control over her.

It had not taken long to formulate the lie that would capture Shepard, turning an urge at the back of the human's head into an undeniable pull, but she had taken a couple of weeks to plant the seeds in Shepard's mind. It had obviously been working. The commander had started to spend more and more time around her and even broken off whatever it was she had with that fool Taylor. Over the same time the idea that Shepard, the woman who had survived contact with a Prothean beacon, would have a strong enough will to survive melding with an Ardat-Yakshi started to sound more plausible to her, until she found she believed it herself. And so, filled with the euphoria of surviving the mission through the Omega-4 relay, she had let he guard down. And she was stuck on a warship with its commander dead before her.

_Don't panic._ As she looked out of the window she reviewed her situation. Ten thousand miles away Omega twinkled, an emergency fall-back if the crew encountered problems with the repairs they were currently carrying out. That was her obvious destination. If she could get there she could disappear into the chaos and no one on the Normandy would ever find her. She had escape plans, of course, but a ship had a lot less ways off it than most places and most of her strategies involved the commander being alive. _Obstacle number one: EDI_. When she had come on board Shepard demanded the A.I. discontinued monitoring this room, giving Morinth a sanctuary where she didn't have to constantly pretend to be the sanctimonious do-gooder she had replaced. Given the current situations the lack of alarms was evidence EDI had been as good as her word. Still, she would be watched everywhere else on the ship. _A grenade in the A.I. core will put her down. Obstacle number two: obtain a grenade. _The armoury was the obvious choice but deck two was had a lot of traffic and any change in the inventory would probably be noticed immediately. _And so the best place to get an explosive off-the-record would be... Zaeed. _She smiled. He was good, but at the end of the day he was just a mercenary. That would be easy enough. _Obstacle number three: getting off the ship._ The shuttle bay was the obvious option, too obvious, but their didn't seem to be any viable alternatives. She would need a distraction, but had a feeling the previous steps in her plan would provide that themselves.

As she thought things through she had been replacing the clothing Shepard had removed. She was just doing up her mother's awful jacket (_Aren't I supposed to be the one dressed like a whore?_) when the door opened and Kelly Chambers wandered in, head buried in her datapad. "Samara, I've noticed since Omega you seem different and with everything we've just been through I thought you might want to tal..."

She stopped speaking as she finally looked up and saw Shepard corpse. For a second neither of them moved, then the human bolted for the door. Morinth acted instinctively, swinging her arm and smashing Kelly against the wall with a biotic blow. The Yeoman staggered, concussed, and Morinth grabbed her with another mass effect field. She plucked the woman from the ground, spreading her limbs and drifting her into the corner away from the door.

Kelly struggled futilely. "Samara... No... Please."

Morinth smiled as she slowly closed her open palm. As Kelly's arms and legs began to fold in she realised what was happening and movement became more frantic. As the field reduced the volume her body was allowed passed the volume it required her pleas became a wordless scream. Morinth flexed her fist once then released it, dropping the second mangled corpse to the floor. The Asari shuddered with pleasure. A kill with such control was a beautiful thing. Kelly reminded her of that girl from Omega - _What was her name? Ned? Not important. - _but she had lacked the spark to draw Morinth's was good to get some worth from her. She listened for a second. The ship was well insulated, but Kelly had not died quietly. Still no alarms. With her biotics she dropped both bodies behind the seating in the corner. Anything other than a casual glance would pick up on them, but she didn't have any better hiding spots. EDI would know both women had come in here. Soon they would be missed.

Centuries of hiding in crowds allowed her to move about the Normandy with a calm she was not entitled to. She walked with her mother's forthright gait, greeting crew-members as the Justicar would. She made her way down to the deck four and into the engineering room Zaeed had made home. The mercenary immediately dropped his stormy countenance as she entered.

"'Ello beautiful! What brings you here?"

"Just wanted to check in." This was proving even easier than she had expected. "See how you were. We lost a lot of people today."

"We did." He didn't sound even close to genuine. "Let me know if you need anyone to... talk... to."

"Oh." She stepped towards him, their faces inches apart, eyes lock on each other. As she did she ran her arm around his waist. "I think that would be a very good idea."

He just stuttered, unable to speak and completely oblivious as she expertly plucked a grenade from the rack behind him. She pulled away, making sure to keep it hidden from him as she turned away. "Give me an hour then find me in the observation room."

She didn't wait for his response as she left. In an hour she would be either gone or dead.

Back on deck three she strode confidently into the medical bay. Doctor Chakwas rose to meet her. "Samara? I checked you when you got back. Something wrong?"

"No doctor." Morinth shook her head. "Just passing through. I would like to speak to Legion."

"Of course." Chakwas nodded and returned to her work.

Legion activated as she entered. "Samara-Justicar. May we be of assistance?"

Morinth didn't speak, wating as the door closed, and the Geth must have calculated something was wrong. It reached for its assault rifle, but the Asari spun a kick to its hand, knocking it away. Simultaneously she pulled the grenade from her belt, activating it and as she completed her turn she thrust it into the the cavity in Legion's chest. A double-footed kick launched the robot towards the main server bank, sending her in the other direction, back towards the door.

* * *

Up in the cockpit, EDI flashed into life. "Jeff. Samara has-" then she was gone as an explosion rocked the ship.

"Shit!" Joker turned to the crew behind him. "A.I. Core! Go!"

* * *

The Core's door opened with a flood of smoke, and Morinth stumbled out, coughing. Doctor Chakwas caught her. "Are you okay? What happened?"

"Legion." The Asari gasped. "He self-destructed."

As crew rushed passed her with fire extinguishers she straightened. "I am fine doctor."

She pushed away from the woman and left the infirmary. As she did Garrus ran passed her, not even acknowledging her in his haste. _Perfect._ She started her own jog, anonymous in panic around her, heading to the weapons bay. With the door shut behind her it took mere seconds to disable the weaponry. _Now even if they spot me they can't shoot me._

She ignored the chaos on her way back to the elevator, considering who else she could cause her an inconvenience. Top of the list would have been Jack. The biotic was powerful, and didn't trust anyone. Fortunately she had been killed on the approach to the Collector base. Now there was no one on board who could best her.

As she emerged into the shuttle bay she turned. Glad she always kept her sub-machine gun with her she unloaded half a thermal clip into the controls, trapping it on this floor. The two crew-members tending to the shuttle spun at the gunfire, one bolting for the alarm. Morinth gunned him down first, then finished the other. She opened the shuttles door and was climbing in when she heard the faintest sound behind her. She just caught a glimpse of someone disappearing behind the other shuttle. Whoever it was hadn't been here a moment before. She moved forwards carefully, ready to flush out the interloper. At the shuttle she jumped around the corner, immediately regretting how committal the move was. Sure enough a booted foot lanced out, knocking her gun away, and then a green fist caught her in the chin, staggering her back. She caught herself and readied for another attack. When it didn't come she had time to take in her opponent. "Thane."

"This was a mistake, Samara."

She couldn't help but laugh. Poor fool didn't even know what he was facing. Still, there was one thing she couldn't work out. "Where did you crawl out from?"

Now it was his turn to laughed. "Apt expression. Ventilation shaft. I saw you ignoring the commotion upstairs. That wasn't the action of a Justicar."

_Obvious, in retrospect._ It didn't matter now. He was alone, she could beat him. With a yell she launched a biotic attack at him, which he dodged easily before replying with one of his own. Her own evasion brought her close enough to him that she could aim a punch at his head, but he blocked it easily. _His martial arts are better than mine. Better keep my distance._ She jumped backwards, just avoiding a lightning fast triple punch combo. Thane came with her, trying to keep her close, keen to stop her from using her biotics. She backed away from two more attacks, letting him build some confidence, then ducked under a high kick and leapt across the room. The distance gave her time to throw a mass effect field at him. He dodged it, and stepped right into her trap. Before the ball reached the Drell she was building her energy for the next attack. Summoning the dark power within her she began to take control of Thane's mind. He was too strong-willed to allow complete access but she was able to slow him sufficiently to make him an easy target. He stood, painfully straight, as she picked him off the ground and tossed him across the hanger with all her might. He hit the wall with such force she was sure she had killed him, but he as he hit the floor he was already trying to struggle to his feet. She was on him in a second. A swift kick dropped him, and then she crouched close, her hand back, biotic power building. The punch she unleashed dented the floor beneath his head. _Another one gone._ She calmly walked over to the override on the shuttle bay doors and punched in the combination. Nothing could stop her now.

* * *

As the Normandy became a speck behind her she found herself unable to tear her eyes from the scanners. It was only when she entered Omega's traffic pattern and the frigate still hadn't moved that found herself relaxing. Casually she put her feet up on the control panel, careful not to kick anything important. She frowned, a strange emotion spoiling what should have been a great victory. _What is that? Guilt? _She had no reason to feel guilty. Shepard's mission had been accomplished, and she had been a big part of it. Hadn't it been her biotic shield that had kept the swarms at bay in the depth of the Collector's station? Without her they would have all been killed. Shepard was a great human, of course, otherwise she would not have attract Morinth's attention so totally, but she had served her purpose. The woman had saved the galaxy twice. She would not be needed again.


End file.
